All in all it was a rather dark and cynical picture Theroux portrayed in the novellas. However, he gave the country a mythical and positive feeling (with its religion and rich culture) while acknowledging its metropolitan spots and more negative sides (with its corruption and illegal/criminal activities). An alltogether realistic picture (as with almost every place in the world), but a still mostly dark and sinister one - a bit too dark and anti-india for my taste. His writing is very fluent and wonderful to read, but because of the rather negative touch not the best first book to read about India and important (also) touristic hotspots (Mumbai, Gateway of India, Bangalore). I liked how he, very subtly, connected the three novellas with each other.